Softball Splits with FIU in First Mid-Week Doubleheader

MIAMI, Fla, (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University softball team split with Florida International University in its first mid-week doubleheader of the 2014 campaign. The Eagles fell 6-1 in game one before rallying to a 5-4, eight-inning victory in the nightcap.

With the split, the Green and White move to 5-6 overall on the season, while FIU moves to 12-4 overall.

Senior Lindsay Smith tallied the Eagles only RBI in game one and came through with the game winning single to knock in Abby Davidson in the top of the eighth inning in game two.

Game One: Florida International 6, Eastern Michigan 1
After leaving two base runners stranded in the bottom of the first, FIU lit up the scoreboard in the bottom of the second with two runs on three hits to take the 2-0 lead over Eastern.

The Panthers extended their lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning when Stephanie Texeira dug in with two runners on base and ripped a double through the right center gap. With two outs on the board and two runners on base, Head Coach Melissa Gentile made a pitching change before Aleim Lopez drove a double to left field bringing the FIU lead to 5-0.

Florida International tacked on one final run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Lopez picked up her second RBI of the contest with a sacrifice fly to right field.

EMU avoided the shutout in the top of the seventh inning as Katy Wyman led off the half inning with a single to right field. The freshman first basemen stole second on a strikeout before touching third on a Taylor Wagner deep single to the shortstop. Smith knocked in the Eagle's lone run with a shallow single in the left center hole to bring in Wyman.

Wagner led the Green and White offense with two hits, while Smith tallied one hit and one RBI and Wyman notched a hit and scored one run. Junior Lindsay Rich (2-2) suffered the loss in the circle, throwing 3.2 innings with three strikeouts and five earned runs, while Abbie Minsker pitched 2.1 innings of relief for Eastern.

Florida International scattered 11 hits, including four doubles while four Panthers grabbed multi-hit appearances. Corrine Jenkins went the distance in the circle for FIU with five strikeouts, four hits and one earned run.

Game Two: Eastern Michigan 5, Florida International 4 (8 innings)

The Eagles were the first to get on the scoreboard in game two when Jenn Lucas reached on an error by the second baseman before using her speed to beat out the throw on a fielder's choice. Senior Lauren Wells reached on the second fielder's choice of the inning in which the Panthers were unable to get an out to load the bases for Alyssa Huntley. FIU pitcher Mari Dawson threw two strikes to work ahead of Huntley, but the freshman pitcher's keen eye allowed her to draw a walk and tally an RBI for EMU.

Florida International knotted the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the first when Texiera knocked her second double of the day through the infield following a Krystal Garcia deep single to the shortstop.

The contest remained at a deadlock until the top of the fifth inning when the Eagles used back-to-back two-out doubles to score three runs and take the 4-1 lead over FIU. Two walks and a fielder's choice put runners on first and third when Davidson stepped up to the box and drove a double to the opposite field, scoring Wells and forcing a Panther pitching change. With runners in scoring position senior Amanda Stanton lined a double to the right center wall, allowing both Huntley and Davidson to touch home for EMU before the final out of the inning was retired.

An error on the catcher in the bottom of the fifth inning allowed one run to score for Florida International before the Panthers added a third run in the bottom of the sixth on a Rachel Slowik single to right field to come within one of the Green and White.

With Eastern leading heading into the bottom of the seventh, Texeira came through in the clutch for FIU with a lead off homer to knot the score at 4-4 and send EMU into its third extra-inning contest of the season.

With Davidson on second to start the international tiebreaker inning, Stanton grounded out to the pitcher allowing Davidson to advance to third with one out on the board. A Shelby Graves strikeout put two outs on the scoreboard when Smith stepped in and roped a single up the middle to put the Eagles up by one heading into the bottom of the eighth.

After pitching seven complete innings, Huntley was relieved by Wells to start the bottom half of the inning with Graves placed on second base. Wells struck out the first batter before walking Rachel Slowik to put runners on second and third with one out. The senior hurler forced Rebecca Sanchez to groundout before coming up with a huge strikeout to close out the game and secure an Eagle victory.

Stanton powered the EMU offense in game two with one hit and two RBI, while Davidson notched one RBI and scored two runs for the Green and White with Smith tallying the game winning run for Eastern. Huntley went a full seven innings in the circle with two strikeouts and notched an RBI for the Eagles at the plate, while Wells (2-2) grabbed the win with one inning of work in relief.

Eastern will be back in action Wednesday, Feb. 26 when it takes on Florida Gulf Coast. First pitch from FGCU Softball complex is slated for 5 p.m.

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Team Stats

Taylor Wagner

Katy Wyman

Lindsay Smith

Jenn Lucas

Eastern Michigan Athletics